Pride Fighting Championship
For all his early successes it was not on his native soil but rather in Japan's Pride organization that Jackson rose to fame in the world of mixed martial arts. Entering Pride in 2001, the Japanese originally marketed Jackson as being a homeless guy. Jackson, still a relatively unknown fighter, first was matched at Pride 15 against fellow wrestler and Japanese superstar Kazushi Sakuraba, who was at that time Pride's most prominent domestic fighter. Jackson lost due to a rear naked choke from Sakuraba, but his performance opened the eyes of Pride's fan base and its executive office.
After beating pro-wrestler Alexander Otsuka in a fight for the Battlarts promotion, Jackson was invited back for Pride 17 where he scored a knockout victory over Otsuka's training partner, Yuki Ishikawa. In his next fight, Jackson was disqualified for an accidental low blow against Daijiro Matsui.
Jackson then went on to defeat Masaaki Satake, Igor Vovchanchyn, Kevin Randleman and Mikhail Illoukhine in successive Pride bouts. He also made forays into kickboxing with a pair of victories over kickboxer Cyril Abidi, under K-1 rules. The first kickboxing bout between Abidi and Jackson was on July 14, 2002. Many expected Jackson's wild style of striking would not translate into the K-1 ring, thinking he would be outclassed by such a schooled and disciplined striker as Abidi. Instead, Jackson overwhelmed Abidi from the opening bell, and knocked him down less than a minute into the bout. Jackson then scored a hard underhand right to the chin of Abidi, knocking him out only 1:55 into the very first round.
Later in the year, Abidi wanted to prove his loss to the undisciplined Jackson was nothing more than a fluke, and faced him on the New Year's Eve Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye card, again in a K-1 rules bout.[citation needed] Jackson laid a lot of criticism to rest by once again defeating Abidi, this time not by early knockout, but via a clear decision. It would be Jackson's last foray with kickboxing, as he returned to full-time MMA competition after his second win over Abidi.
See also: Wanderlei Silva vs. Quinton Jackson
Around this time, Jackson began stating his intentions to capture the Pride middleweight (205 lb/93kb) title from Wanderlei Silva. In the opening round of Pride's 2003 Middleweight Grand Prix, Jackson won a split decision over Murilo Bustamante. Three months later, Jackson defeated UFC fighter Chuck Liddell in the tournament's semi-finals at Pride Final Conflict 2003 by corner stoppage, putting him in place to battle Silva in the tournament finals that night. Jackson fought for the championship against Silva in what was called fight of the year by various MMA media. After taking Wanderlei Silva down and bloodying him, a stand-up was called by the referee and Jackson was stopped with a series of knees to the head.
Jackson famously slamming Ricardo Arona for the KO in Pride Critical Countdown 2004
Jackson continued his Pride career with victories over Ikuhisa Minowa and Ricardo Arona, finishing the latter bout with a powerbomb slam and a consecutive head butt by which Jackson rendered Arona unconscious while Arona was trying to lock in a triangle choke on Jackson.
Prior to his rematch with Silva, the notoriously brash Jackson made headlines with the public announcement of his conversion to born again Christianity. In the fight itself, Jackson floored Silva in the opening round and later scored a takedown which led to a series of knees and elbows at the end of the round. Jackson scored another takedown in the second round, but Silva escaped to his feet and proceeded to brutally knock out and humiliate Jackson with knee strikes to the head for the second time.
Jackson's next two bouts were against Silva's Chute Boxe training camp partners. He won a split decision over Murilo "Ninja" Rua, but fell to Rua's younger brother, Shogun Rua, via TKO in the elimination series of Pride's 2005 Middleweight Grand Prix, where Rua broke several of Jackson's ribs early in the fight and proceeded to win by soccer kicks to Jackson's head.
Jackson was berated by his trainers following the loss to "Shogun". Soon after, Jackson was contacted by veteran boxing and MMA trainer Juanito Ibarra, who saw potential in Jackson's natural abilities but viewed his profane reputation as a downfall. After a short conversation, Jackson entrusted Ibarra, a fellow born again Christian, with the managerial and training direction of his career.
Jackson then earned wins over Hirotaka Yokoi and Yoon Dong-Sik before leaving the Pride organization.
After Pride
On May 16, 2006, the World Fighting Alliance announced it had signed Jackson to a multi-fight deal. He defeated Matt Lindland by split decision at WFA: King of the Streets on July 22, 2006. "He is a good fighter", Jackson said. "I trained hard. He is an Olympic silver medalist. So much respect to him. I knew I had to bring it." The match turned out to be a tough one for the Memphis native who got caught in guillotine choke holds twice. Jackson managed to get out both times, and slammed Lindland a few times before cutting the bridge of his nose with ground and pound on his way to the win.
UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship
On December 11, 2006, Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, announced it had acquired select assets from the World Fighting Alliance, which ceased operations as part of their sales agreement. Jackson's WFA contract was one of the assets acquired.
In an interview on the UFC program Inside the UFC, Jackson said it was finally time for him to enter the organization, and that he had not before because of his friendship with UFC fighter Tito Ortiz. Jackson said that because Ortiz was one of the biggest stars in the UFC, and that both were fighters in the same weight class, he did not want to interfere.
Jackson made his UFC debut at UFC 67, where he knocked out Marvin Eastman, avenging an early career loss.
At UFC 71 on May 26, 2007, Jackson faced UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Chuck Liddell in a title rematch of their 2003 Pride bout. Approximately 90 seconds into the first round, Jackson caught Liddell with a right hook to the jaw that sent him down to the mat, whereupon Jackson pummeled him for a referee stoppage at 1:53 seconds to capture the UFC Light Heavyweight title.
Jackson then defeated Pride Middleweight Champion Dan Henderson at UFC 75, on September 8, 2007 in London, England via unanimous decision to unify the two organizations' titles.
The Ultimate Fighter 7
On December 9, 2007 it was announced by Dana White at Spike TV's Video Game Awards show that Jackson will be one of the two coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 7. At the conclusion of the season, Jackson fought the other coach and number one contender Forrest Griffin at UFC 86. During the show Jackson showed his temper after his fighters repeatedly lost to Team Forrest. Going into the semifinals only 2 of Jackson's original fighters made the cut while Forrest had 6 of his fighters advance. In the finale Team Griffin's pick, Amir Sadollah beat Team Jackson's top fighter C.B. Dollaway via armbar in the first round.
On July 5, 2008 he fought Griffin for the light heavyweight championship at UFC 86 and lost a judges' decision. In the first round of the fight Jackson wobbled Griffin with two solid power punches, and soon after knocking Griffin down. Jackson's power proved to be problematic for Griffin as Jackson tagged him throughout the fight. In contrast, Griffin pushed the pace of the fight from start to finish and stayed much more aggressive than Jackson for most of the fight with multiple leg kicks and by mounting Quinton and landing elbows and punches to his head. In later rounds Jackson managed to take Griffin down twice and work his own ground game, almost executing his signature power bomb. Many took note as Jackson was showing obvious discomfort from the effects of the leg kicks. The next three rounds were described by Sherdog as "somewhat uneventful" with Jackson searching for the knockout punch while Griffin threw whatever he could with long jabs, leg and body kicks. Griffin was awarded a unanimous decision with the scores 46–48, 46–48 and 46–49 in what many considered an upset. After the fight both Griffin and his coach Randy Couture expressed that they thought the fight was close, and Jackson's coach, Juanito Ibarra, had planned to protest the unanimous decision with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.[26] However, after speaking with the commission about his complaint, he decided not to file because he was informed that even if the judges scores were changed to his satisfaction, the fight would still result in a victory for Griffin by a majority decision. Soon after the fight, Jackson fired his long time trainer/manager Ibarra. There were talks of an immediate rematch after the fight.
Following the loss of his belt, Quinton was involved in a hit and run incident and a high speed police pursuit in California, following charges to which he would plead guilty.
Back on track
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson counters with a left hook, knocking Wanderlei Silva unconscious at UFC 92.
Jackson began training with sports physician Dr. Carlon Colker for his next fight, at UFC 92, which would be against Wanderlei Silva, the only man to beat Jackson twice. Jackson avenged his previous defeats by knocking Silva out with a vicious left hook in the first round. The fight was notable for some controversy surrounding the conclusion of the match, as Jackson followed Silva to the ground with another three punches before referee Yves Lavigne called the fight. Yves was unsuccessful at protecting Silva from the second and third punches.
Jackson's next fight was against Keith Jardine at UFC 96 on March 7, 2009. It was announced before the fight that if Jackson won he would fight Rashad Evans for the Light Heavyweight Championship and if he lost Lyoto Machida would fight for the title instead. Jackson then won the fight by unanimous decision with many believing that his knockdown of Jardine in the final seconds of the third round swayed the outcome of the fight. Jackson was on track to get his title shot but lingering injuries kept him from fighting. Lyoto Machida recieved the title shot and Evans was expected to defend his belt as the main event instead; Jackson had stated he would like to fight Rashad, however, he suffered torn ligaments in his jaw that will require surgery and five weeks of no contact. Therefore, Lyoto Machida replaced Jackson, and Jackson was expected to fight the winner of the Machida vs. Evans bout, though that fight never came to fruition.
The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights
Production of the tenth series of The Ultimate Fighter reality series began in June 2009 with Jackson coaching opposite former UFC Light Heavyweight champion Rashad Evans. The season, featuring 16 heavyweight competitors including internet street fighter Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, the former IFL Heavyweight Champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson and former NFL players, made its premiere on Spike TV on September 16 with the finale scheduled for December 5.
Jackson drew criticism for his actions in his second stint as an Ultimate Fighter coach. His actions included his constant verbal abuse of opposing team member Darrill Schoonover, his refusal to enter the ring to support his fighters after a loss and his general lack of coaching skills leading to shouting unhelpful or obvious instructions such as "Get up." These actions and Jackson's poor coaching skills potentially led to his team losing the first seven fights of the season.
[edit]Retirement and U-Turn
On September 22, 2009, Jackson wrote in a blog on his website that he is "done fighting," due to maltreatment by the UFC. On December 4, 2009, Jackson informed the community via his web blog that he will return to the UFC to finish his contract and wants to fight Rashad Evans. At the UFC 107 press conference, Dana White said that if Rashad Evans could defeat Thiago Silva at UFC 108, then a fight between Evans and Jackson would finally come to fruition.
Jackson was expected to finally face Rashad Evans at UFC 113, but the long awaited bout is now expected to take place on May 29, 2010 at UFC 114. So far, it has only been confirmed that Jackson has signed bout agreements. The status of Evans' bout agreement is so far unknown.
Acting career
Jackson has appeared in Confessions of a Pit Fighter, Bad Guys and The Midnight Meat Train, as well as an episode of The King of Queens, Jackass and Pimp My Ride. He is also set to appear in Never Surrender, Duel of Legends, Death Warrior, Miss March and The A-Team (film).
He also appeared in the Nike commercial, "Human Chain."
Personal life
Jackson resides in Irvine, California and has four children: D'Angelo and Raja from previous relationships and Elijah and Naname Nakia Jackson with his wife, Yuki. All three boys have the middle name "Rampage" while Naname has just "'Page." Jackson's wife, Yuki, separated from him in 2006 after a blood test proved that he had fathered a child, Raja, with another woman in 2000. Quinton and his wife have since reconciled.
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